Lowering the Bar:  “The Northwest Airlines pilots who failed to respond to air-traffic controllers for 90 minutes, missed their destination by 120 miles, and claimed they had ‘lost track of time’ while using their laptops, have been stripped of their licenses by the FAA.”

F-4 Phantom IIFor five years in the USAF I flew the multi-million dollar supersonic (mach 2+) F-4 Phantom fighter-bomber.  Twice I picked up a brand new Phantom from the McDonald Douglas factory in St. Louis, Missouri, and flew across the Atlantic and the Mediterranean then north over Turkey to deliver the airplanes to the Shah of Iran’s air force in Tehran, Iran.  For three years I was an instructor who taught USAF and German students to fly the Phantom at George AFB, California.

I flew the Phantom over the U.S., Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, South Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, North Vietnam, Spain, Turkey, Germany and Iran.  Based on my experience and knowledge of piloting airplanes, I believe that there is no possible explanation that would justify what the pilots did.  The pilots messed up big time and deserve to be punished.

See “Another Life: Flying the F-4 Phantom in the United States Air Force” for more about my days of providing asset protection for the United States.